Add 'install' target to 'all' in CMake

Question

I have a CMake project with the following directory tree:

build/
assets/
dest/
<other files>

dest is a directory where all installed files should go:

1. The executable, which goes to dest/ with a simple make, this is controlled with CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY

2. The assets, located on assets/, which go to dest/ after a make install.

But I don't want to issue make install to copy all files do the dest/ dir: I want a simple make to do this.

In this sense, how do I add the install target to the default one (all)? Or, is there a better way to solve this?

Answer 1

Using the following wont cause recursion. Requires CMake >= 3.15.

add_custom_command(
    TARGET ${MY_TARGET} POST_BUILD
    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} --install ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR} --config $<CONFIG>
)

Extra : You may want to provide a default (local) install path so this doesn't fail on Windows.

if(CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX_INITIALIZED_TO_DEFAULT)
    set(CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX "install" CACHE PATH "Default install path." FORCE)
endif()

Answer 2

This will execute the install target after building <target_name> (which could be all):

add_custom_command(
    TARGET <target_name>
    POST_BUILD
    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} --build ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR} --target install
    )